DUSHANBE, May 17, 2011, Asia-Plus -- The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) informed on May 16 that eleven member federations have been suspended with immediate effect for financial reasons as per Article 7.1 of its Statutes.

Among them are Cyprus (CYP), Indonesia (INA), Jamaica (JAM), Kazakhstan (KAZ), Macau (MAC), Macedonia (MKD), Paraguay (PAR), Seychelles (SEY), Syria (SYR), Tajikistan (TJK), and Yemen (YEM).

According to FIG, these member federations have no right to participate in, or organize any official events of the FIG and events from Continental Unions or Regional Groups and they have no right to participate in any events or activities with other member federations.

They will, however, be reinstated once their dues have been settled, the statement says.

With Comores (COM), Lesotho (LES) and the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (PRK) still suspended, the FIG counts 126 affiliated federations and four associated federations at this time, with a total of fourteen of them suspended.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) is the governing body of competitive gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on July 23, 1881 in Liege, Belgium, making it the oldest international sport organization.  Originally called the European Federation of Gymnastics, it had three member countries — Belgium, France and the Netherlands — until 1921, when non-European countries were admitted, and it was renamed to its current name.

The federation draws up the rules, known as the Code of Points, which regulate how gymnast''s performance is evaluated.  Six gymnastics disciplines are governed by the FIG: Artistic gymnastics (further classified as Men''s Artistic Gymnastics — MAG and Women''s Artistic Gymnastics — WAG), Rhythmic gymnastics (RG), Aerobic gymnastics (AER), Acrobatic gymnastics (ACRO) and Trampolining (TRA).  Additionally, the federation has been considered the authority responsible for determining whether gymnasts are old enough to participate in the Olympics.